Talk:Metalborg, Black Doctor/@comment-15828053-20140510234710/@comment-24699797-20140511143630
In short, it would be bad from the perspective of balancing the game. The game has been designed with Grade 1 8000 Power vanillas all not being part of sub-clans. This means that to include 8000 boosters in a deck which uses Especial Counter Blasts, you are putting the consistency of your deck at risk, even if the reason you're including Grade 1 vanillas is to help your deck hit the right numbers consistently. It might pay off most of the time, but if it goes wrong, it can go really wrong, because it will be your big plays that will be affected. Part of general deckbuilding knowledge in the current metagame says that you should try to use Grade 2s with at least 9000 Power and Grade 1s with at least 7000 Power. Obviously, 9000+7000=16000, which is 10000 to guard on most commonly used Grade 3 ride targets. Units of those Grades with Power higher than these values will have disadvantages: 10000+ Power Grade 2s will either be vanilla (but may be part of a sub-clan) or will have a drawback (e.g. Brutal Jack's Restraint); and Grade 1 8000 vanillas are not sub-clanned. Why these numbers? Although uncommon, Grade 3 10000 Power units can't be hit by Grade 2 9000 Power units, establishing a clear difference between the Grades. Also, sub-clanned Grade 2 8000 Power units are then usually afforded much more useful or much stronger effects, especially if their sub-clan bosses use Especial Counter Blasts or have other specific requirements for sub-clanned units, with the drawback of not being able to hit for 16000 with a normal 7000 booster without additional combo pieces or additional costs. This has definitely been a deliberate design decision from Bushiroad, so they have a framework within which they can balance the power and costs of card effects. Now, I've talked about why Carvingraizer fits within Raizers, and why sub-clanned Grade 1 8000 Power boosters don't exist, but then the obvious question becomes: why isn't Carvingraizer bad for the game's balance? The first point is about the Grade 2 8000 Power units I was just talking about; they come with a cost to your offense, but they also come with a cost to your defense, as a lone Grade 1 8000 vanilla can hit it. Carvingraizer cannot do this, as it requires another Raizer in the same column - a hand advantage cost, affecting defense when it comes to Perfect Guards - and in fact it's a 6000 Power unit on its own, which is more or less useless on its own. The second is that Carvingraizer sub-clan specific. While you might like to introduce Grade 2 tech from outside of the Raizer sub-clan, it comes with the risk of Carvingraizer becoming a 6000 booster in certain situations. This means you need to make a deckbuilding choice between the huge advantages Carvingraizer comes with, and the risks that build will come with. Let's say we'd really like to run Magician Girl, Kirara alongside the Ultimate Raizers. Mega Flare in Legion provides huge pressure from the Vanguard column. Similarly, Kirara provides good pressure from rear-guard columns, and its draw effect is certainly welcome. In combination, we end up with pressure everywhere, and its a lose-lose situation for the opponent during our turn, no matter what they do. In theory, that sounds fantastic. Unfortuantely, Kirara is not a Raizer, meaning our star booster Carvingraizer only helps it reach 15000, and Kirara's pressure is reduced to only 5000 to guard against the all too common, 11000 Power Grade 3 Vanguard. Things might not go that badly, and we might even be able to put Jetraizer behind her, which is 16000 Power total and can increase the pressure the column has almost devestatingly if we have the unflipped damage to spare, but it's still a heavy choice to make while deckbuilding, because Carvingraizer's combinations with multiple other Raizers open up so many plays. The third is that it's a much needed tool for multiple Raizers to hit good numbers. It comboes with Cat Butler and Mega Flare to restand in Legion at 24000 Power; it lets Drill Wing hit for 31000; it lets Dual Flare restand with 16000; it lets Flare Wing swing for 20000; it helps maintain Hi-powered Raizer Custom's usability by being an effective 8000 booster; and importantly, by being a Raizer unit in name, it does not invalidate Perfect Raizer as a backup boss. Carvingraizer lets Raizers maintain good power levels while letting them do the flashier things they have been designed to do, by shifting power from multiple other places into Carvingraizer. This means that the big flashy stuff the rest of the cards do is okay, because they require Carvingraizer as a combo piece before they can work at their best. While it is a boon Raizers have above other sub-clans, it's not there to be a substitute for an 8000 booster. Its actually designed to be a limiter on the sub-clan's other cards, so the sub-clan as a whole is allowed as much overall power as it has been given. Where that thought process went with the ruling that the rear-guard boost counts towards Metalborg, Sin Buster's skill, I'm not entirely sure, but as it stands, I can only really praise the amount of thought that has gone into the Raizer sub-clan's expansion.